A Douglas County judge sentenced a 25-year-old Lawrence man to serve two years on probation after he pleaded no contest in January to aggravated battery in connection with an October altercation downtown.

Anthony M. Bassett faces a two-year prison sentence if he’s ever found to violate terms of his probation, said Cheryl Wright, a district attorney’s office spokeswoman. Bassett was accused of punching a 24-year-old Lawrence man in the face about 1:30 a.m. Oct. 19 in the 900 block of Massachusetts Street. The victim fell to the ground and suffered a broken nose, and prosecutors said Bassett had approached the man and started an argument with him. District Judge Kay Huff also ordered Bassett to pay $8,200 in restitution.

Comments

Wow, you're standing downtown minding your own business, someone comes up to you and starts trouble, punches you in the face, knocks you to the ground, breaks your nose, and the best our DA can come up with is probation? How is this not a serious crime against person offense? Does a person not have a reasonable expectation to be somewhere without having someone come up and beat the crap out of them? Unbelievable! I wonder if Huff would be so forgiving if that occurred to her or her family.